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VAILA

I used to hate to purl. It just isn’t my favorite thing ever.  Especially great swaths of purling like that which is practically the entire body of Vaila.

Vaila

Vaila is knit from the bottom up, both the sleeves and body. I, of course, couldn’t be hacked to actually follow the directions. So, I knit it top down.

My aunt has accused me of not being very specific when it comes to talking about the mods I make on my knits, which are plentiful and varied. So here are the mods that I made, just for you, AUNTIE M.

  1. Knit from the top down. I use the 35/15 method: that is, the front and back use 35% of the stitches each and the sleeves use 15% of the stitches each. This means that if you cast on 100 stitches the front will have 35 stitches, the back 35 stitches, the right sleeve 15 stitches, the left sleeve 15 stitches.  Place markers at each of these stitches. I can’t quite explain the math because math (especially percentages) breaks my brain, but I can assure you that using this method works. At least for me. I also used the number of stitches at the CAST OFF part of the pattern as a starting point, then knit K2P3 ribbing for an inch. (Should have gone a little longer – and I may carefully rip out the neck ribbing and redo.)
  2. The top-down knit raglans: To get the same look as the raglans in the pattern, the increases you  will need to use are:  knit to 3 stitches before the marker, “purl front and back in the stitch” (similar to kfb), knit 1, kfb.  With these increases you will get the same look as the pattern, which is knit stitches on a sea of purl.
  3. I didn’t convert the lace insert at all.  I knit it as is, and it looks pretty much the same no matter which direction it’s pointed.
  4. I knit the sleeves inside out.  I couldn’t stomach the thought of all the purl in the round, even though I don’t hate purling anymore.  So  I knit the sleeves in the round and then turned it right side out and knit the cuffs. If you do this, you should be careful that you make sure to  pick up the underarm stitches in the right way so the seem is on the inside of the sweater.

I think that is it in terms of modifications.

Vaila

Anyway, here are the stats:

Pattern: Vaila from Twist Collective
Yarn: Berroco Vintage (An acrylic/wool blend.  I like it.)
Gauge: I dunno
Needles: US 9 29″ circular

 Happy Monday (and MARCH, wow), dudes. 

So, now I am totally working on another sweater. I don’t know what is wrong with me. I haven’t knit on a sock in three months!

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Up To (No Good)

I’ve spent a good portion of these first two months of 2010 doing nothing but knitting on sweaters and listening to zombies on book-on-CD while I work on some jewelry designs. My place is pretty trashed due to my tragic housekeeping skills, though I did clean my bathroom recently (the other bathroom is my de-facto paper-towel storage center and knit-wear cleaning station). And one of my new years resolutions was to keep more on top of things, and I certainly have in the kitchen, which is where things were most dire. Other places in the house it’s just full of craft-related clutter. The one thing in the kitchen that is throwing me is recycling, like where do I keep that stuff? I don’t even know. Argh.

I’m trying to be a better housekeeper, but…

Honestly, I have better things to do. 😛

So anyway, I have been knitting, and I totally knit this sweater in January:

Gathered Pullover
(hard to take a decent picture of yourself, let alone knitwear by yourself at 10 pm in the middle of winter, you know? oy.)

I like it.

PATTERN: Gathered Pullover, Interweave
YARN: Dream in Color Classy,  Happy Forest
MODS: Well, the whole thing is a mod except for the bustline cable. The original pattern has you knit from the bottom up with no ribbings.  But that is not how I roll, so I knit it as a top down raglan with 2×2 ribbings. I hate the curly look of stockinette edging. Also, I made 3/4 sleeves instead of long sleeve. I had enough yarn to make long sleeves but I wasn’t feeling it.

IN CONCLUSION:

Here is a picture of the zombie box I made that I found on my harddrive.

Zombie Box

Hard to believe that I actually made that like six or seven years ago now! Oh, zombie box. It only lost two of the Barbie arms in my travels.

…I hated sculpture class. I have no aptitude for three dimensional thinking (hence making illustration/drawing my main focus), though I did enjoy ceramics.  If I ever find my grotesques I’ll post pictures of those. I have no idea what happened to them – I remember packing them, and then they are just not here anywhere post-Texas. I’ll have to check the shed.

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Onwards and Upwards!

Oops, I haven’t blogged since Thanksgiving!

Happy New Year, folks! I think 2010 will be excellent.

After falling off the health bandwagon mid-December thanks to holiday noshing I am raring to get back with it. Today happens to be Friday so I can reconfirm my commitment to health and wellness in 2010.

Also I will be thirty this year. :O

Anyway, I made a collage of the things I made last year. It’s missing the two hats I made my mom for Christmas, but you get the idea.

2009 FO mosaic

Lots of nice things last year! My favorite things are the shawls and the Liesl sweater. I got back into the hat mojo, and of those, I really like the alpaca ribbed hat I made myself (last pic on the 2nd-to-last row).

This year I finally feel like knitting some sweaters. I have one that I’m currently working on on my knitting machine, and one that I am working on by hand – a top down version in worsted weight yarn of the Gathered Pullover from the Winter 2007 Interweave Knits. I actually splurged, crazily, and got myself enough Dream in Color Classy (in my favorite colorway, Happy Forest) to make a sweater with Christmas money. I also got enough Berroco Ultra Alpaca in a gorgeous deep teal to make another Liesl. So I’m going to roll with the sweater making while it’s hitting because it doesn’t happen all that often.

2010 will again be a year of Knitting What I Want To Knit, When I Want To Knit It. I am looking forward to it!

I still have to finish up a couple of projects for my sister for the quilt she made me, which is taking longer than I wish, but… I really don’t like making stuff for other people on a deadline so I kind of barf out projects here and there for her. I’m almost done with a pair of socks for her, then next I will make a hat, then next another pair of socks out of the hot pink and green Shibui Sock.

Anyway, other than the Abby knitting I don’t really have a rhyme or reason for what I plan on making this year. Last year I had no idea I’d make shawls, but I did – 3 of them. I also didn’t think I’d ever make a sweater, but I did! And I like it a lot.

This year I do plan on trying to knit down the stash. (She said, enthusiastically if, honestly, unrealistically) I have, recently, acquired Christmas stash, which was dumb, but fun! I’ll take a picture later.

I also want to blog more, but interesting things have to happen. 😛